Chapter Summaries

Garos defeated Elvie and secured the White Mane Clan’s submission, expanding the Molten Iron Clan’s power in the Borderlands. Meanwhile, the White Dragon Tressie awoke after twenty years of Dragon Sleep and set out to find the centaurs for revenge.

• Elvie used her strongest attacks against Garos, lost, and pledged to serve him after he praised her potential.
• Silver Mane realized how strong Elvie was, while Sorog resolved to meditate and pursue a class so he could rely less on Garos.
• Elvie and Silver Mane announced the White Mane Clan’s submission, and the Shaman and centaurs lowered their weapons and pledged loyalty to Garos.
• Tressie awoke from Dragon Sleep at level 13, still furious at the centaurs, and flew out to hunt down the White Mane Clan.

Nick shifted his trading business to the Estonia River aboard his merchant ship, the Treasure, and traded with Zachary and the centaurs for goods from the Borderlands. After the exchange, Zachary took Nick deeper into the territory to meet the Adolescent Dragons, leaving Nick eager but badly jolted by the ride.

• Nick invested in a retired warship, converted it into the merchant ship Treasure, and moved his trade route to the Estonia River.
• The Treasure survived an aquatic-monster attack and anchored at a northern tributary, where Cole supervised the unloading of cargo.
• Zachary and the centaurs arrived, exchanged gifts with Nick, and traded Borderlands specialties for fuel, liquor, desserts, and Alchemy tools.
• Nick and Zachary completed the exchange while discussing their respective cultures, and Zachary told Nick to come with him for further instructions.
• Nick left the Treasure docked and rode with the centaurs deeper into the Borderlands, enduring a rough journey.

Nick sought Garos’s support by offering his loyalty and asking for a chance at Dragon Vein Conversion, while Garos considered whether he could serve as an informant in human lands. Their conversation was interrupted by Tressie’s return to the centaur camp, where Garos’s mistaken name for her enraged her.

• Nick met Garos in the centaur camp and explained that the Raymond Duchy had placed a bounty on him, sharing the titles humans used for the dragon.
• Nick praised Garos’s intelligence, offered him a Mithril-plated spatial ring, and said he wanted to serve him for his own ambition and the hope of Dragon Vein Conversion.
• Garos warned Nick that he was unlikely to survive Dragon Vein Conversion, while Nick insisted he would pursue it and that his family would remain loyal.
• Garos sensed a cold dragon approaching, and Silver Mane identified the returning White Dragon as Pale Wings, the foe who had fought the White Mane Clan twenty years earlier.
• Tressie spotted Garos and grew furious when he called her White Scale before correcting himself and apologizing.

Tressie, an Adult White Dragon, attacked Garos after he called her “White Scale,” but his strength and lightning-enhanced assault overwhelmed her. She surrendered and admitted she was a foolish White Dragon, and Garos corrected her insult before sparing her.

• Tressie confronted Garos over calling her “White Scale” and attacked him to teach him respect.
• Garos and Tressie battled in the sky as Elvie prepared to help, but Silver Mane told her not to interfere without the Dragon Lord’s command.
• Tressie used ice magic to weaken Garos and conceal her attacks, while Garos countered with fire, his thorns, and powerful blows.
• Garos activated his lightning-enhanced form, caught Tressie in the mist, and battered her into the frozen ground until she surrendered.
• Tressie called herself a foolish White Scale and admitted she was wrong, and Garos corrected her to “White Dragon” before adding that she was foolish.

Garos defeated the Adult White Dragon Tressie and demanded compensation, then tried to make her join his forces. Tressie offered to bear his offspring instead, but Garos rejected her advances.

• Garos defeated Tressie and asked her name before demanding compensation for the damage she caused.
• Tressie offered half her wealth, but Garos demanded all of it and threatened to kill her when she refused.
• Tressie pleaded for another way to satisfy Garos, and he decided he wanted to recruit her as a fighter who could help him train against ice.
• Tressie offered to bear Garos's offspring, but Garos stepped away and firmly refused.

Garos discovered that he had entered heat early, subdued Tressie, and negotiated her service in exchange for settling her debt. He appointed Nick to build a network for him in the Federation’s south while planning to keep a low profile before his approaching Dragon Sleep.

• Tressie tried to seduce Garos, who realized they were both in heat and knocked her down until the scent wore off.
• Garos and Tressie agreed that she would pay half her debt with wealth and serve him for fifty years, with her remaining wealth held as collateral.
• Tressie followed Garos to the centaur camp, where Nick praised Garos for defeating an adult dragon.
• Garos made Nick his agent in the south and offered him Dragon Vein Conversion; Nick swore loyalty and received a Communication Stone.
• Garos decided to limit unnecessary activity because Sorog was in a long slumber and Garos expected his own Dragon Sleep within the next year or two.

Garos escorted Tressie to her lair and discovered that her supposed hoard was mostly worthless filler. After showing her his Sky Lake Gem, he took all her real treasure and promised her a future share if she worked for him.

• Garos asked Tressie about nearby dragonkin, and she told him that a Silver Dragon, a Copper Dragon, and their descendants lived about five hundred kilometers east.
• Garos suspected the Copper Dragon was Deborah’s parent and decided to avoid the territory of her Silver Dragon mate.
• Tressie led Garos into her lair and revealed a treasure chamber filled with gems, coins, and metal.
• Garos discovered that Tressie’s apparent hoard was mostly ordinary ore, animal bones, and skulls.
• Garos showed Tressie his Sky Lake Gem, promised her a share of future gems if she worked for him, and carried away her real treasure.

Garos and Tressie left the dragon nest and headed south, while Nick and Maggie’s ship came under attack on the Estonia River. Elvie escorted the fleet and helped drive off the Bladefin Sharks, leaving Nick more confident in his alliance with Garos.

• Garos decided against exploring the dangerous ice fields and returned south with Tressie.
• Nick reassured his pregnant wife Maggie that he would build a powerful family so their child would not face discrimination for Tiefling blood.
• A pack of Bladefin Sharks attacked the Treasure, and its crew fought back with magic cannons.
• Elvie, a Half-Blood Centaur sent by Garos to escort the fleet, struck the sharks with Explosive Magic Arrows and drove them away.
• Nick thanked Elvie, ordered the crew to haul up the shark corpses, and resumed the voyage.

Garos brought White Dragon Tressie to Dragon Valley and ordered Tasha to scout the Bloodhoof Clan, whose Minotaur cavalry had approached the valley. While Tressie helped Garos train his Explosive Scales, Red Dragon Samantha arrived and clashed with her, leaving the two dragons trading insults.

• Garos introduced Tressie as his follower, and Tasha reported that Bloodhoof Clan Minotaur cavalry had approached Dragon Valley before retreating.
• Garos weighed whether the Bloodhoof Clan had discovered them and ordered Tasha and several adult wyverns to gather information without engaging.
• Garos asked Tressie to attack him with ice magic, using the icy gale to temper his scales and improve his resistance.
• Samantha mistook Tressie's spell for an attack on Dragon Valley and struck her with Dragon Breath, burning her back.
• Garos stopped the dragons and explained that Tressie was part of Dragon Valley, but Samantha and Tressie exchanged insults and challenged each other's status.

Red Dragon Samantha challenged White Dragon Tressie and was decisively defeated, forcing her to recognize Tressie's strength. After Garos advised her to earn the right to boast through strength, Samantha accepted Tressie's superiority for now but vowed to surpass her.

• Tressie answered Samantha's contempt by charging at her and sending her flying in their first collision.
• Samantha activated her Alchemy Runes and attacked again, but Tressie used Ice Armor and superior combat skill to overwhelm her.
• Tressie drove back Samantha's Flame Dragon Breath, pinned her beneath frost, and forced her to address Tressie respectfully as a White Dragon.
• Garos told Samantha that she could demean Tressie only if she became stronger than her.
• Samantha said she would respect Tressie while Tressie remained stronger, but vowed to surpass her as she grew.

Garos learned that the Bloodhoof Clan had discovered Dragon Valley and that its chieftain, Bal Bloodhoof, appeared to have awakened a powerful ancestral Demon bloodline. He decided to prepare for war with the clan before entering Dragon Sleep.

• Garos continued training against Samantha and the White Dragon until dusk, while considering how their frost might affect his Explosive Scales’ next evolution.
• Tasha and the Wyverns returned wounded and reported that the Bloodhoof Clan had spotted them and sent magically empowered Minotaurs to pursue them.
• Tasha described Bal Bloodhoof, and Garos and Samantha concluded that the chieftain had awakened an ancestral Demon bloodline.
• Garos recognized the Bloodhoof Clan as a threat that could grow while he slept and resolved to prepare for war, relying on the Thrall Legion.

Garos prepared for a possible conflict with the Bloodhoof Clan while seeking to improve his strength with 95-purity Black Oil. He agreed to let Vera join the coming battle under his command, but decided to save the Gladiatorial Array Disk for a greater threat.

• Samantha volunteered to lead the Thrall Legion in a direct attack, but Garos warned that the Bloodhoof Clan was powerful and they lacked intelligence.
• Garos ordered Samantha to refine 95-purity Black Oil using her Alchemy Furnace in the Sulfur Hills.
• Samantha proposed using the Gladiatorial Array Disk to trap the Bull Demon while the dragons attacked, but Garos refused to spend its single use on the Bloodhoof Clan.
• Vera revealed that she had become a Dream Illusionist and used Scale Powder to create a convincing giant-dragon illusion.
• Garos allowed Vera to participate on the condition that she obey his commands, and Samantha flew to the Sulfur Hills with the two barrels of Black Oil.

Garos organized Dragon Valley's defenses against the Bloodhoof Clan and considered building a larger dragonkin community by recruiting Hatchling Dragons. At the Bloodhoof Clan's camp, Bal Bloodhoof ordered preparations for war while planning to lure the dragonkin into lowering their guard.

• Garos sent Russell to scout the Bloodhoof Clan's resource sites and sentry posts, ordered Tasha to harass its main camp, and assigned Kalu to prepare the Star-Shattering Hammer Warband.
• With Sorog asleep, Garos reflected on Dragon Valley's lack of capable leaders and considered adopting the Blue Dragons' practice of raising Hatchling Dragons to build the Ignas Family.
• At the Bloodhoof Clan's main camp, the chief Shaman warned that war with the dragonkin would bring danger but could also bring blessings from Baphomet.
• Bal Bloodhoof ordered the clan to prepare for war and planned to feign weakness before striking the dragonkin when they lowered their guard.
• The wyvern flock harassed the camp with stones, while the Bloodhoof Clan used defensive spells and concealed its anti-air measures.

Garos received Samantha’s Grade 95 Black Oil and suppressed his Red Dragon instincts while considering future descendants. After learning that the Bloodhoof Clan had withdrawn from skirmishes, he suspected they were hiding their strength or responding to a greater threat, and decided to probe them before attacking.

• Samantha presented Garos with a barrel of Grade 95 Black Oil and admitted her refining technique still had flaws, while Garos praised her progress.
• Garos wondered whether his descendants would inherit his Adaptive Evolution talent and evolved traits, then fought down urges to claim females and sire offspring.
• Russell reported that the Bloodhoof Clan guarded its Obsidian Mine and Armored Rhino Ranch heavily, while Tasha said its sentries had withdrawn after a short pursuit of the Wyverns.
• Samantha and Tressie urged Garos to attack the Bloodhoof Clan directly, but Garos suspected its apparent weakness concealed another purpose.
• After using Vera’s Scale Powder to sharpen his thoughts, Garos concluded that the Bloodhoof Clan might be showing weakness because it knew Dragons were present, and chose to test its response before committing to an attack.

Garos sent Samantha and Tressie to raid Bloodhoof Clan holdings while Vera guarded Dragon Valley, then sharpened his wings and tail as the latter showed signs of evolving. Samantha and the wyverns attacked the Armored Rhino Ranch, damaging its Totem Pillar before withdrawing with injuries and leaving the ranch devastated.

• Garos ordered Samantha to raid the ranch, Tressie to attack the mine, and Vera to guard Dragon Valley.
• Garos stored a barrel of 95-purity Black Oil in his Space Ring and sharpened his wings and tail, noticing that his tail scales were beginning to form blades.
• Samantha and Tasha led the wyvern flock in an assault on the Armored Rhino Ranch, setting the rhinos scattering and clashing with Grino and the Minotaur guards.
• A female Minotaur warrior wounded Samantha with a spear, while Grino raised a Totem Pillar that attacked the wyverns with Lightning Chain.
• Samantha threw High-Explosive Flame Orbs at the Totem Pillar, weakening it and enabling the wyverns to continue their attack.
• The injured dragon flock withdrew after destroying the Totem Pillar and devastating the ranch, leaving many Minotaur guards dead.

Samantha and the White Dragon continued weakening the Bloodhoof Clan’s strongholds, but Samantha encountered a silver-and-copper dragon hybrid who demanded gold and let her go after she solved a riddle. Garos identified the hybrid as likely Deborah and prepared for her possible revenge while the decisive battle with the Bloodhoof Clan drew near.

• Samantha and the White Dragon reported their attacks to Garos, who ordered them to keep weakening the Bloodhoof Clan rather than occupy its strongholds.
• Over the following days, the dragons and their forces struck the Bloodhoof Clan’s five strongholds until Samantha encountered a Copper Dragon hybrid disguised as an eagle.
• The hybrid demanded compensation, but Samantha solved her riddle about gold coins and left without fighting.
• Samantha told Garos about the encounter, and he concluded the hybrid was probably Deborah, a Silver Dragon Hybrid who might remember him and seek revenge.
• With the Bloodhoof Clan nearing a decisive battle and Deborah’s intentions uncertain, Garos continued sharpening his wings and tail.

Garos realized the Bloodhoof Clan was withdrawing its outpost forces to prepare a concentrated assault, so he used their assumptions about Dragonkin arrogance to disguise his own strategy. After the dragons occupied two major outposts, Chief Bal led the Bloodhoof Clan’s forces toward Dragon Valley for the decisive battle.

• Tressie reported that the Bloodhoof Clan had withdrawn its leaders and elite troops from the Obsidian Mine and stopped reinforcing its outposts.
• Garos deduced that the Bloodhoof Clan was gathering its forces for a decisive attack, and he proposed continuing to seize the outposts to reinforce the enemy’s belief that the dragons were arrogant and foolish.
• Garos sharpened his wing tips as weapons while Samantha praised his strategy and claimed she had thought of it too.
• The Red Dragon and White Dragon attacked the Obsidian Mine and Armored Rhino Ranch, killed the remaining guards, and occupied both outposts.
• At the Bloodhoof Clan’s camp, the elderly Shaman told Bal that the sacrificial ritual was arranged, and Bal ordered the clan’s leaders and elite forces to march on Dragon Valley.

The Bloodhoof Clan discovered that Dragon Valley had been deliberately left undefended while Garos and the Molten Iron Clan attacked their main camp. Bal turned his forces back, but the assault had already broken through the clan’s defenses, leaving the battle’s outcome all but decided.

• Bal sent five scouts into Dragon Valley, and they found empty tents and only elderly, sick, and injured people.
• A Warlock’s crystal ball revealed that Garos was attacking the Bloodhoof Clan’s main camp, and Bal ordered his forces to return.
• Garos waited above the camp as Hodge and the Gnoll Hunters struck the battlements and Kalu smashed through the wall.
• Silver Mane and Elvie attacked the Minotaur defenders and their Totem Pillars while the Star-Shattering Hammer Warband advanced through the battlefield.
• Samantha led Wyverns into the fight, and the White Dragon arrived with cavalry as the Bloodhoof defenses collapsed.

Garos's Molten Iron Legion prepared for the arriving Bloodhoof Forces, and the two armies clashed in a brutal battle. As Bloodhoof Bal grew stronger by absorbing battlefield energy, Garos launched himself at the chieftain.

• The Bloodhoof Forces arrived, and Garos recognized the immense threat posed by Bloodhoof Bal.
• The Molten Iron Kin killed their Minotaur prisoners and formed ranks as the Bloodhoof Forces charged.
• Bal leaped into the battlefield, crushed the Ogre formation, and sent Kalu flying with a single punch.
• The White-Mane Shaman transformed and fought Tressie, while both armies' warriors and spellcasters clashed across the battlefield.
• Garos realized Bal healed and grew stronger by absorbing energy from the fighting, then dove at him like a crimson meteor.

Garos fought Bal in a fierce close-quarters battle and believed he had nearly defeated the Bloodhoof Chieftain. Bal awakened his Demon Bloodline, entered a powerful Second Stage, and took to the sky to continue the fight.

• Garos dodged Bal’s attacks and used his claws, wings, and tail to wound the Bloodhoof Chieftain before hurling him down and blasting him with Dragon Breath.
• Garos noticed that the Bloodhoof warriors kept fighting undeterred, then saw Bal evade another blast of Dragon Breath.
• Bal’s charred body regenerated as his Demon Bloodline awakened, swelling him into a towering, black-skinned demon.
• Bal announced that their true battle was beginning and grew enormous demon wings.
• Bal flew into the sky to attack Garos as the Molten Iron Legion and Bloodhoof Forces continued fighting below.